Fire and Brimstone
by CrazyTenor42
Summary: A short, angst one shot taking place after ROTS if Anakin had won the duel and taken Obi-Wan captive. Anakin uses the opportunity to take out his anger on Obi-Wan and the Jedi themselves. Lots of Angst! Non slash.


Fire and brimstone. A perfect, ironic place, to put an end to the Sith. So, blinking away the sweat from his eyes, Obi-wan Kenobi stood on the shore, watching hopelessly as his once-Padawan stood resolutely on a hunk of floating debris. Spurts of flame were erupting behind him, completing the picture. His own Jedi Apprentice was now Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith. The blue lightsaber he was holding seemed a mockery.

Anakin made to jump, and Obi-Wan tensed immediately. He silently prayed that Anakin would not attempt it. _Oh Anakin, don't give me a reason to try and destroy you!_

"It's over, Anakin! I have the high-" his voice suddenly caught in his throat. His throat was constricting, a tight, clawing pressure wrapped around his neck. Obi-Wan struggled to maintain focus, struggled not to panic, not to waste effort trying to undo the Force hold Anakin had on him. Anakin hadn't meant to jump at all. He had wanted to distract Obi-Wan, slightly lower his Force-shield. And it has worked.

Obi-Wan struggled to focus on Anakin. His real arm was slightly outstretched, but Obi-Wan held the uncomfortable notion that it was the mechanical arm wrapped around his throat, the cold metal getting tighter and tighter, preventing his aching lungs from taking in a breath.

It was no use. Anakin's invisible grip on him was too strong, and his connection to the Force was getting weaker and weaker as the amount of oxygen in his body diminished. His lungs were completely on fire now. Images of the Jedi who had died, of Master Yoda, of Padme, of the entire Republic, of everyone he was now going to fail, swam before his eyes. He slowly sank to the ground, his lightsaber tumbling from his grasp, and he has a last, fleeting look at Anakin, his crystal blue gaze icy despite the fire all around them, and then his vision went completely.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes and blinked several times before he could be sure that he was indeed awake, just surrounded by complete darkness. He was lying on his back on a cool, metal table, a gag across his mouth. He tried to sit up, but something dug into his wrists and he fell back. Restraints, around his wrists and ankles, and around his neck. He reached out for the Force, only to find that the restraint around his neck was a Force-inhibitor.

There was a blue humming glow as a lightsaber was activated at his feet. The feeble rays of light it cast illuminated Anakin's face, leering over him.

"You thought I was going to kill you, didn't you?" His voice was taunting, full of the gloating pride he always held.

Obi-Wan remained silent, carefully watching the lightsaber in Anakin's grasp. Yes, he expected Anakin to kill him. He knew Anakin had turned to the Sith. He knew Anakin was prepared to kill his old Master, but to torture him first, which Anakin must be planning, that was just truly evil. He stubbornly refused to believe that Anakin would be that close to the dark side. But Anakin spoke again.

"I'm not going to kill you, Master." Obi-Wan flinched at the way he had said "Master." Cold, cruel, and unfitting. Like the hunter praising the hunt before the kill.

"I want you to suffer like I suffered. You never understood. None of you understood. All you Jedi are alike. Unemotional, uncaring. Even Qui-Gonn was."

Obi-Wan wished desperately he could see Anakin's face fully, not just the flashes as he lazily twirled the lightsaber around.

Obi-Wan tried to mutter through the gag. The only thing that seemed to be conveyed was, "Anakin."

The lightsaber flashed a centimeter from his face.

"My name is not Anakin. My name is Darth Vader." His voice changed, getting softer, more deadly. "The Jedi left my mother on Tatooine. Qui-Gon had the power. He could have saved her!"

The lightsaber suddenly surged forward, making a perfect, cylindrical hole in Obi-Wan's right shoulder. He cried out, his voice muffled against the gag. The physical pain meshed with the mental agony in a mixture of sympathy and anger. Qui-Gon had been a more eccentric Jedi, yes, but Jedi weren't supposed to interfere with others affairs. Theoretically, yes, they could have saved Shmi, but they would have had to threaten or kill other innocents.

Obi-Wan hadn't even been with Qui-Gon, he had been on the ship! There was nothing that he himself could have done. Unless Anakin planned to take out everything any Jedi had done to him on Obi-Wan….

"You didn't want to train me. You didn't think Qui-Gon should have taken me from Tatooine. You only trained me because it was his dying wish."

Another wound, in the opposite shoulder.

No, Obi-Wan hadn't wanted to train Anakin. He himself was still a Padawan at the time, forced into becoming a Master too soon. Obi-Wan still needed guidance, still needed teaching, but was thrust into the full responsibilities of a Master. He had resented the boy, until he realized that it was no fault of Anakin. Most often, he was questioning of himself. They had given "The Chosen One" to a boy who hadn't undergone the Trials.

"You were always holding me back. You were jealous that I was stronger than you. You never showed me any emotion; you were never comforting. All you did was offer words from the 'Jedi wisdom.' _I was still a boy! _I needed someone to hug me, to comfort me, to assure me everything was okay! I didn't fit in with the other Padawans, but you always tried to force me to be like them. To go 'play' with them."

Anakin's voice has stared to lose it's rough edge, it became more desperate and distraught. "I worked on all those mechanical things to please _you. _I looked up to you. I wanted you to tell me I did a good job. I wanted you to be proud of me, feel like I wasn't some burden Qui-Gon dumped on you." He paused for a moment, and when he spoke again, the anger had returned. "But you always scolded me and told me to 'go play with the others.'"

The lightsaber was plunged, more deeply this time, into Obi-Wan's side. He grunted, trying not to give Anakin the satisfaction of him screaming. Of him pleading to stop, just to kill him.

Obi-Wan deserved to be killed. How could he have misunderstood Anakin so badly? He should have tried to be more of a father, more of a friend. He did find Anakin a burden sometimes; Obi-Wan didn't fit in as well with the other Masters because their Padawans were so different from his own.

Obi-Wan needed Qui-Gon, he would have understood how to deal with Anakin. Obi-Wan had never needed any physical or verbal assertion of his Master's thoughts for him. Obi-Wan had never really considered that Anakin's circumstances were so different from his own. Anakin had had a home, a loving mother, friends. And that had all been torn away from him.

"I was ready for the trials. I could have taken them. I could have passed. You told me I wasn't ready."

The lightsaber descended unto his lower chest.

Obi-Wan was having a harder and harder time concentrating. He was too focused on breathing, too focused on pushing away the pain, which would slowly ebb, and then come back in full force when Anakin struck again.

"You ignored the visions of my mother. 'Dreams pass in time.' My dreams were right! My mother died! I watched her. I saw her dying in my arms! I could have saved her. I became a Jedi so that I could save her! So that she would be proud of me! Jedi are supposed to promote peace! You let her die! We could have saved her!"

This time, multiple wounds were made. Anakin, almost artfully, placed searing, almost perfectly half-inch holes covering his entire left leg. The smell of burnt cloth, fused with skin, permeated the entire room.

"Then, you scolded me for going to save her. I tried to save my mother, _tried,_ and you punished me for it!"

His entire right leg, done the same as the left.

"You could have left Padme to the same fate on Geonosis. She could have died! And you wouldn't let me save her. You were too focused on your grand Jedi duties."

The palm of his left hand. The pain was starting to become almost unbearable. His vision was staring to leave him as the agony took over in waves, but just when he started to lose consciousness, Anakin would relive some of the pain with the force. Not greatly, but enough to keep Obi-Wan conscious, barely.

"Your Jedi Code forbade me and Padme. We loved each other, and you turned her against me. You and the Jedi forced us to marry in secret. The Jedi are the reason I couldn't save her! I had another vision. _She was dying! _Like my mother! But you didn't want to save my mother, why would you want to save Padme?"

His left arm was done the same as his right. Silent tears started to stream down his face as the pain flared back, full force. He would have preferred to been choked to death, or left for the lava to claim him. This slow, deliberate, soul wrenching ploy of Anakin's was too much.

"I'm not evil. The Sith have never been evil. The Sith just have more emotion. They let their anger, their love, their _feelings, _show. The Sith would have let me save my mother, be with Padme!"

Anakin was crying now, choking out his words. "None of this had to happen! I loved you! You were my friend, by father, my brother! But you betrayed me! Did you hate me that much?"

The blades descended a fraction away from Obi-Wan's face. He closed his eyes, now, Anakin would finally kill him.

But Obi-Wan was wrong again.

Anakin slowly twisted the blade. The horizontal blade grazed over Obi-Wan's face, being careful to avoid Obi-Wan's eyes and mouth. Anakin was being almost gentle, moving the lightsaber very lightly, careful not to singe Obi-Wan too deeply.

A hoarse scream was forced from Obi-Wan's throat. His tears, beard, and flesh were all slowly being fused into a raw, burned layer of skin, replacing what used to be his face.

The lightsaber finished mauling Obi-Wan's face and then retracted. The room was once again plunged into complete darkness. Obi-Wan had no idea if Anakin was still standing above him or not, but he had given up caring. Every moment was focused on breathing, focused on not succumbing to the pain.

"Anakin." His voice came out weak, wavering, frightened. He had so much to say to Anakin, so much to apologize for, but with no strength to say it.

"Anakin, I'm sorry.'

There was a ray of golden light as Anakin went sweeping out the door and then the light vanished. Fresh tears start to pour down Obi-Wan's face, each drop like a tiny flame cascading down his torn face.

He waited in the darkness, unable to think, unable to move, unable to sleep. The physical pain was ebbing but Anakin's words still rang in his ears. _Didn't want to train me…I wanted you to be proud…could have saved her….loved you…betrayed me…Sith…let me save my mother…Padme…friend…brother…._

Thousands of being were dead, Jedi, children, innocents, fighters, all slaughtered. And how many more would die? All because of Obi-Wan's failings. If only, if only he had done more, this could all have been avoided. Why if he has saved Qui-Gonn? What if he had taught Anakin better? Listened to him more? Backed Anakin up in front of the Council? Obi-Wan had let the Council take advantage of Anakin's friendship to Palpatine. Obi-Wan knew how loyal Anakin could be, how much betraying a friend would hurt him. But Obi-Wan had allowed the Council to pass the mandate.

The what-ifs started to overtake him. _Obi-Wan Kenobi, you've turned a sweet, innocent, caring nine-year old boy into a Sith Lord. _One of the few people Obi-Wan truly loved, destroyed.

_I've failed…failed…fail-_

His eyes rolled back into his head and he lost consciousness.

Obi-Wan awoke, and then faded back into blackness. This became a regular pattern; he would lay awake, physical and mental torment wreaking havoc on his body and mind, and then slip away, only to be reawaked later. Time had no measure.

The door opened suddenly, and in the fleeting light, Anakin was visible, his hand clutched around someone's ankle, dragging them into the room. Obi-Wan hoped it wasn't Padme. Surely Anakin hadn't fallen that far.

There was a sharp click and the room was flooded with light. Obi-Wan blinked furiously and once his eyes had adjusted, he strained his neck to see who Anakin had dragged, but the restraints held Obi-Wan back.

Anakin strode over and stood at Obi-Wan's feet. Anakin's expression was….different. Obi-Wan had been prepared to see a gloating, malicious, murderous expression. Anakin looked almost like a Padawan again; he appeared confused, unsure of what he was doing.

"I– talked to Padme. She said you-you knew about…us…but you…you overlooked it. You never–never told the Council."

Obi-Wan was silent. Yes, this was true, but he wasn't sure where Anakin was headed with this.

"She just gave birth…twins. Luke and Leia. Palpatine was right, the Sith can stop death. My dream was wrong. They're – all three of them – are fine." Anakin's voice suddenly hardened. "Padme's okay. No thanks to you. She suggested you become an uncle of sorts…She forgot you're dead. Or will be. But as a last gift, Master–"

Anakin bend down and pulled the stiff corpse of the Emperor from the ground. He lazily tossed it on top of Obi-Wan, completely blocking his view of Anakin. A few seconds later, the lights flickered off.

"Goodbye my Masters."

The door slammed shut.

It was a horrifying, disgusting feeling of cold, dead flesh pressed against Obi-Wan, scraping against his melted skin. It was made worse by the fact that Obi-Wan did not have long before he ended up that. Soon, there would be two corpses; Anakin's Jedi Master and Sith Master. Both had tried to teach Anakin their ways. Both had clearly failed.

Obi-Wan tried to shift, tried to do something to force the corpse off of him. Every bit of movement aggravated his split skin, forced his hands more tightly into the metal bindings. His wrists started to become raw, and eventually they split, blood trickling down the table, onto Obi-Wan's shredded robes, unto the corpse. Obi-Wan felt himself losing strength, fading into blackness as more and more of his blood slowly drained away. He finally succumbed to the welcoming darkness.

Darth Vader never returned for the body.


End file.
